"""Life is Science"" was organized the first time. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the style of the event had to be completely restructured and was finally organized as a virtual event.
WP1: The work for the awareness campaign aimed at increasing the awareness about the event.
- online tools: website, social media channels, eNewsletter, eCalendars of partners, blogs, videos for preview
- offline tools: flyer, poster, phone calls for recruiting external exhibitors, info-kit for schools, interaction with local authorities (Bildungsdirektion, SFG)
The activities of the awareness campaign had an outreach of 200,000 potential visitors.
WP2: The activities during the night have been adapted to the COVID-19 pandemic and national restrictions:
- live-stream program from 8:00 to 21:00 (gain information): 13 lectures by top researchers all over Austria (38% female) + science show with the famous science busters, pre-recorded explanatory videos
- DIY experiments - video tutorials (hands-on): 7 videos (""catalase - the fastest enzyme of the world"", ""Producing bio-plastics at home"", ""Lactose intolerance"", ""Why do gummy bears have problems with kiwis?"", ""Yeast - an important helper of biotechnology"", ""Colour game with plants"")
- Games, quizzes, surveys (share your opinion/knowledge): Open vaccine challenge, Battle for cattle, Life is Science Quiz (with tombola), Bioeconomy now, Knowledge about viruses in society
WP3: The impact assessment was prepared during the event organization (design of registration and evaluation forms, quizzes, surveys) and evaluated after the event.
a) Impact assessment of awareness campaign (outreach numbers, quantitative and qualitative evaluation of 700 registered participants)
RESULTS: 53% age between 15 and 18 years, 68% participated in the frame of school (home work or school exercise) and, therefore, have been informed about the event by their teacher
b) Impact assessment of activities during the night (number of visitors and users, quantitative and qualitative evaluation of the event, level of interaction, evaluation of surveys and quizzes)
RESULTS: the response of the evaluation form was rather low (12%), but the rating was very good. The majority of visitors prefered a passive participation in the event (no discussion, no questions) and they had no technical problems.
WP4: The management duties included the communication with the external advisory board, with ""service suppliers"" for the project and the budget management.
The findings of ""Life is Science"" are going to be exploited in the frame of a new proposal for a second ""Life is Science 2"" edition, which is envisaged to be held as an on-site event. Furthermore, lessons-learnt are going to be included in the application for several green deal calls (10-3, 6-1, 4-1), where acib is responsible for dissemination & communication work packages and where also citizen science approaches are going to be included. A presentation about the project ""Life is Science"" at EUSEA conference was not possible during project lifetime because of the travel restrictions and lock-down in terms of COVID-19. A post-report about the event is going to be published in the local newspapers ""Grazetta"" and ""Kurier""."
